I Have A Weird Tongue

[BRCoats]

My tongue is getting its tastebuds back. I hadn't realized I lost them, but I looked in the mirror the other day, and noticed them perking back up. Has anyone else had that experience? I've been gluten-free for about two months...with a few oopsies.

Also, ever since I got REALLY sick, my tongue curls on the sides. The only time it's not curly is when I feel good....which is not often (yet). Does anyone know what would cause a curly tongue?

Brenda

[FreyaUSA]

What you have is called "Geographic Tongue." My son and niece both have it (and my husband slightly.) It is totally benign. It's non contageous. Non harmful. With my son, when he's not feeling well, the swirls and curls become much more pronouced, too. Kind of like a thermometer. "Am I really sick or just have the blahs?" stick out your tongue! On a side note, I went to a celiac support group for the first time last month. They have a flyer that lists possible indications of the disease. Geographic tongue was listed! Who'd have thought? (So, now I'm thinking of encouraging my husband to get tested, though he follows a gluten-free diet 95% of the time anyway.)

[kabowman]

I don't have a "curly" tongue but have always had a geographic toungue - my oldest, the one with stomach problems but tested negative for celiac disease also has a geographic toungue. It even changes occasionally.

I had just read last week that a geographic toungue was a possible indicator or side effect or something like that...

-Kate

[Guest gfinnebraska]

I read another side effect of celiac disease is long eyelashes... I never knew how I got long lashes when my Mom and Sis have none... when I read that it answered a lot of questions! There are SOME good things about celiac disease ~

[BRCoats]

Yeah, I know about geographic tongue. But the descriptions that I've seen of it seem a little bit different than mine. So, who knows? Glad I'm not the only one with a weird tongue though.

Mine changes when I don't feel well too. It's nice and flat everytime I feel good. As soon as I feel a little bit "off", it's back to being curly.

Thanks for the reassurances. I appreciate it!!

[BRCoats]

Kimberly,

I have long eyelashes too.

[jaimek]

That is so funny that you guys wrote this topic. I was just telling my fiance and my best friend that i feel like my tongue is getting in the way sometimes. That I feel like I am not talking correctly cause my tongue was acting funny. Like I had no control over it. They both laughed at me and told me I was losing it. I just forwarded this post to them and told them that I wasn't crazy. So weird!

[BRCoats]

Either that, or we are ALL crazy. HAHAHA!! Totally kidding of course!!

[FreyaUSA]

Long lashes? How funny! My second son (without geographic tongue) has ridiculously long lashes. He's 10 and even embarrassed about them. (I thought it was so funny, though I naturally DID NOT laugh, when he came home all upset because one of his friends was asking him why they were sooooooooooo long.) He's already a cutie (nope, no bias here ), but he's going to be one of those dreamy guys when he's grown up, light blond hair, spring green eyes and long black lashes.

[cdobbs]

I am glad to see other peope with a tongue problem. my dad and i seem to be parallel in the symptoms we see with having celiac disease. ours isnt a curly tongiue it like its raw or num all them time. like when you burn it. thats how it feels. some days its worse and others mild. is that the same thing as the g tongue thing yall were talking about?

christi

[darlindeb25]

cristi--when your tummy is upset it causes canker sores on your tongue and that is what your tongue sounds like--mine does it whenever my tummy gets upset--i have been told that you get similiar sores in your tummy--big canker sores and then all that acid causes your tongue to do the same thing--not fun, is it deb

[cdobbs]

is it just acid? both my dad and i have the problem wether or not our stomach is upset. its just on the top end of our tongue. coul dbe its jsut really weird how raw it feels. i dont ever see or feel any sores in my mouth.

thanks

christi

[Guest cowboy]

What is included in Geographic Tongue? My wife has nothing on the top of her tongue, but along the edges it looks bumpy. I do not know if I am describing it right, but if you stick out your tongue it is only on the edges... not on top or below. I have always been curious.

[mommida]

I've had several doctors and a doctor freak out when the saw my tongue!

Their explaination afterward is, it is swollen. Are the "curly edges" of your tongues the impression of your teeth? Does it sometimes look like it is cracked? If so then I guess I have a name for it now, geographic tongue. Sounds like I was sticking it somewhere it doesn't belong. LOL

Interesting enough, a swollen tongue is a symptom of poisoning.

Laura

[BRCoats]

Cowboy,

Sounds like your wife and I have the same type of tongue. There's nothing wrong with the top of my tongue at all. But the sides get curly when I don't feel well. Very rarely will it all look normal. I don't think there's one set way the tongue looks with geographic tongue. It seems to vary.

[FreyaUSA]

Oops! Sorry so long in getting back to this. Both the curly edges and the red, whorly top can be signs of geographic tongue. My son also has the numbness, reduces taste, "burned" sensitivity feeling along with his. It's not canker sores, it just seems to be an indication of his overall recent health. If it's clear, we know he's been feeling fine for the last week or so. If it's acting up, he's recently not felt well. It acts up when he eats gluten, but it reacts to any cold symptom (which he gets whenever he eats gluten.)

[celiac3270]

  gfinnebraska said:

I read another side effect of celiac disease is long eyelashes... I never knew how I got long lashes when my Mom and Sis have none... when I read that it answered a lot of questions! There are SOME good things about celiac disease ~

Lol....I have REALLY long eyelashes...neither of my parents do, though...lol...yet another connection to celiac.

My tongue is sorta weird, too, according to the homeopathic dr. I've been going to. I don't see what he's referring to, but he said it has "islands" on it.....whatever that means

[cdford]

Not only is it truly "geographic", but mine feels swollen. For years, I told my doctors that one of my symptoms was that my tongue felt too big for my mouth and got open "rivers" in it at times. Now we know what it is and they don't look at me funny any more. It seems to have settled down on the gluten-free diet. If I ever get into anything accidentally, my tongue is the first place I know it. It feels swollen, breaks open, and curls up around the edges.

Go figure, though...I didn't get those georgeous eye lashes. Let that boy know that what they are teasing him about now will cause the girls to swoon in a few more years.

Donna

[msserena]

Hello

Yes I to have ridges around my tongue and also my whole tongue swells when I eat something that I wasnt suppose too.

[McDougall]

It never ends the things I can blame on celiac that are improving after 30 days gluten-free. My toungue has always been a problem for me and it does curl summamitch, much better lately, best in years, how about that. All my life I've been made fun of for having long eye lashes, brows and I can blame that on celiac to? :-) It's all to wierd.

[Carriefaith]

I think I get geographic tongue too. When I eat certian foods/drinks, especially citrus drinks like five alive, my tongue gets all irritated and bumpy red lines appear (it kinda looks like mountains on a map)!

[mommida]

Because of red345 posts I have looked into yeast infections/thrush. Guess what? If you don't get yourself tested, you might just have thrush. I'm waiting for a call from the doctor with results. The descriptions are just too close to call.

L.

[FreyaUSA]

  cdford said:

Let that boy know that what they are teasing him about now will cause the girls to swoon in a few more years.

Right now that poor boy is watching his brother go through the turmoils of (this is what the 10 year old calls it) HORRORMONES. If I mentioned the girls will love those lashes, he'd cut them off.

About thrush, if you don't have the typical white patches on the insides of the cheeks, it's pretty unlikely that's it (though it could happen.) Thrush doesn't cause the whorling or curling that geographic tongue exhibits (unless, of course, you have thrush AND geographic tongue.)

[jknnej]

My tongue was bleeding in spots for awhile. dentist said everything looked fine, as did doc. So why was it bleeding? It was in different places. Happened every two or three days when I brushed my teeth-didn't brush my tongue.